Abstract

Small businesses represent by far the largest proportion of business entities within Australian business, and as such represent a vital component of the country’s economic structure (ABS, 2016). There has been a significant increase in the Australian population due to immigration from a range of countries. In fact, Australia is now very diverse, with migrants arriving from more than 200 countries across the world. There are approximately 5.3% of all small businesses that are run by Vietnamese entrepreneurs in Australia (ABS, 2016). It is clear from this figure that Vietnamese small businesses make up a significant proportion of this sector in Australia. This thesis examines the dynamics of Vietnamese migrants in small business in Victoria. The consideration of environmental and personal factors in understanding Vietnamese migrant business start-ups, survival and Ethnic Entrepreneurship theories has been the focus of discussion for this study. Firstly, there is a general consensus of what contributing environmental and personal factors influence the Vietnamese migrant in business start-up. Secondly, the thesis looks at how these factors are associated with the Ethnic Entrepreneurship theories identified in the literature. Lastly, the work identifies what factors have contributed to the Vietnamese migrant in sustaining their small business.